From Pole to Pole | Nina Disney

They have just arrived in the UK. They are thousands of my fellow countrymen and women from Poland.

All is new, different. Expectations are high, as is vulnerability.

What is it like for them?

First, everybody needs a shelter. You are grateful for a little space in a one-bedroom flat with three others (two in the bedroom, two in the living room, you wouldn’t turn away some more if they promised they would work nights and therefore only need a bed during the day…). So you need a job. This, after all, is what you came for in the first place.

Between the months of May and June last year, there were 447,000 applications to the Worker Registration Scheme from people who came into the UK from the new countries which had recently joined the EU. But to get a job it would be better if you knew some English. You might need it to do simple things like reading the Health & Safety Regulations.

Back home…

You wonder how they are. Email them something reassuring. Yes, you are OK, early days… Your friends from university, or from the same village, or those you have met since arriving, are also looking for a way to make a living. They dream that maybe they might save enough for a deposit on a flat back home…Who knows how things will work out?

To integrate or not to integrate? That is not really the question at this stage. You don’t know — in fact lots of things look different from a different perspective. A ‘life changing experience’ indeed. What is life about then?

What’s the system?

If you come with your family, there are schools to think about — how do you understand the system, let alone enrol your children, especially as you are not sure what everybody is saying? What you say and how you say it makes you feel like a child yourself. Everybody is so kind — although it must be challenging for their patience sometimes. Some call it ‘culture shock’ — but you are European, steeped in culture, aware of the world and all that…

You wonder what an English house looks like from the inside. You wonder why they talk so quietly. You wonder at first why they refer to the weather so often, but you soon realise there is a good reason for that. Then there are the dentist, the doctor, the hospital appointment, the Citizen’s Advice Bureaux, the borough council offices, the renting contract, the tax office, the buses (although it is so much cheaper to walk anyway), the shopping, the food (why do they politely refuse to like your Sauerkraut salad?).

The Bible tells the followers of Jesus Christ to spread the good news about salvation, free through God’s grace, to all people all over the world. That means sharing with those we meet, including newcomers to our country.

Open door

Polish people are used to the idea of going to church. Some come to ‘any’ church out of a sense of duty. Some we invite in the course of everyday contacts. That gives opportunity for developing friendships and getting to know one another. Very often two things become apparent as we meet Polish people: a language barrier and spiritual searching.

Being originally from Poland myself, some months ago I was praying with a friend asking the Lord to open more doors for Polish people. The door happened to be in our own church building.

Many Polish people need to learn English to begin to function in their new country. We hit upon the idea of opening an English conversation class for Polish beginners. And what better textbook to use than a simple translation of the Bible!

So, although the size of the group varies, we get together informally at the church, where you may hear a random mixture of easily excitable voices asking questions (why is Carole’s cake called Victoria Sponge Sandwich when everybody knows that a sponge grows in the sea and it is a cake not a sandwich?) within the frames of English conversation (we leave grammar lessons to the college, this is real conversation) about anything and everything including the Bible.

Comings and goings

‘Students’ ask for ‘homework’ and initiate serious questions. The biblical information that salvation cannot be earned by our good behaviour to neutralise sin is such a huge concept that it does not only exercise language skills, but really challenges the core of what they thought could be taken for granted. Understanding the gospel is a process which happens only when the Holy Spirit touches the soul. Meeting the Lord Jesus personally through the Word of God is the greatest event that can take place in a person’s life.

What about members of extended families, friends and acquaintances? Can they come? They need to know too. A student said, ‘I told them — is that OK?’ Some would like to come, but they are working all hours. Some come for a while, but then something else crops up. Some come because of the warmth and genuine friendliness, for practical advice, the odd form filling-in exercise, etc., and stay to hear the Word of God. Some don’t want to hear but are intrigued by what they see. Some are happy to come to the occasional meeting to watch their children enthusiastically join in the church’s children’s club activities. Grateful for invitations to coffee, lunch, a concert, thrilled to be included in family walks, some ask, ‘Why are you doing this?’ Some say, ‘We are beginning to understand.’

Pray for us and ask yourself what your church could be doing for newcomers to our country.